Carmel Valley dog center emails show unclear plans

It's unclear exactly what a "canine sports center" proposed for Carmel Valley will look like, one of the center's co-owners said in addressing neighbors' concerns.

The Carmel Canine Sports Center "is indeed a brand new kind of dog-related business, and it is impossible for anyone to predict exactly what it will be like once it is up and running," principal Martha Diehl said in an email to Bruce Meyer, vice president of Quail Homeowners Inc., which represents property owners in the area surrounding the proposed dog park.

Emails between Diehl and others, including Monterey County planning officials, add more detail to the proposal but also raise more questions.

Some opponents have asserted that Diehl, as a county planning commissioner, has received favorable treatment from the county planning staff and was allowed to begin work without proper permits. Diehl flatly denies any special treatment, saying the limited work done so far is allowed because it amounts to agricultural use. But she said she will stop being the point person for the project partly because of public perception.

Diehl and co-owners Ernie Mill and Ken Ekelund, Diehl's husband, are seeking a use permit for their commercial venture, which offers memberships for up to $5,000 each for owners to exercise and train their dogs.

The complex is proposed for 45 acres on Valley Greens Drive, across from the newly renovated Quail Lodge and Golf Club.

"I understand 1,000 dogs attended (a dog show) last weekend at Carmel Middle School," said Rancho Tierra Grande (neighborhood) Association representative Scott Cunningham. "Are those functions going to move to this venue? Why is it hard to predict what it will be like? It's just hard to predict which way Martha will flip-flop next."

Diehl has said events planned at the center would be no more disruptive than car shows and that the recent dog show was four times larger than what she envisions.

County officials have said Diehl's place on the planning commission affords her no special consideration and her application is being treated as any other.

Water concerns

County records show Diehl met with Planning Department officials as early as February, but residents say they didn't know until May that the center could be coming to their neighborhood, when grading was well under way and a sign announcing a grand opening went up.

Emails between county officials, Diehl and Mill, owner of a Salinas construction company, were obtained by The Herald through the California Public Records Act. They show that officials asked for more information and clarification on a number of issues, and that the use permit application is incomplete while Diehl said she awaits specifics from the county.

General dialogue started about two years with the county about possible locations before the Carmel Valley site was chosen, Diehl said by email, responding to Herald questions.

The center would have six to eight employees and produce annual revenue of $500,000 from about 400 memberships "while working to add compatible revenue streams from local and regional hospitality and business partners," a project plan states.

At a meeting of the Carmel Valley Land Use Advisory Committee, area residents raised concerns about traffic, noise, lighting, possibly diminished property values — and water.

The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District says a request for a water permit exemption was deemed incomplete and denied this month amid concerns about Carmel River impacts. The Planning Department says it needs confirmation from the water district that the center can use water from existing wells, according to a letter this month from water district manager David Stoldt.

While there is a well on the leased property, formerly farmed by Earthbound Farm, the amount of water the center could use is not yet known. It could be limited when stream flows drop and could be affected by a pending action on water rights from the State Water Resources Control Board, Stoldt wrote.

If state limitations are in place, "this could greatly impact the project, and would require significant storage ... or use of trucked water for bathrooms and irrigation of lawns in summer, etc.," Henrietta Stern of the water district said in an email to Diehl.

The Quail homeowners want an environmental impact report to explore water and other issues before any use permit is issued. Diehl said she hopes such a report, which is costly and time consuming, will not be needed because her project mirrors the previous farm use of the land.

Neighbors notified

Diehl said she began contacting area residents about her plans once she signed a 10-year lease with the owners. She said some were disgruntled about lack of notice, but they live beyond 300 feet of the property and were, therefore, not required to be notified.

Meyer, of the Quail residents group, said that when residents learned the project included space for up to 70 recreational vehicles and that significant events could be held on 24 days each year, they "realized this project would be a disaster for our residential community."

He said they are worried about "the circus nature and number of planned events and the intolerable traffic issues they entailed. Two recent local dog events ... confirmed our fears."

In response, Diehl said, "Events are not unknown in the neighborhood, some much larger than any we propose."

In one of several emails between Diehl and Kathleen Lee, chief of staff for Monterey County Supervisor Dave Potter, Diehl thanks Lee for her "kind remarks" contained in a Herald article in May. At that time Lee said she was unaware of any opposition to the dog center.

"It is soooo great to have you guys pulling for us!" Diehl wrote to Lee.

Other correspondence suggested there was some confusion about the project. In an email to planning director Mike Novo, Mill wrote, "It was obvious from your email this morning and package you were expecting from us there was a disconnect."

In response to a county request for additional documents and details, Mill wrote, "We would re-write our business operation plan so it was less misleading."

Diehl, however, told The Herald, "We have never tried to mislead anyone, hide anything or obscure anything from anyone. We have made changes to our project description to try to address expressed concerns from the staff and the public, as I would think people would want us to do."